Suggestion for only ATK on foreign arrivals to Thailand instead of RT-PCR

BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): The Department of Disease Control (DDC) will ask the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to further ease up on the Test & Go scheme for foreign arrivals by changing the mandatory RT-PCR test upon arrival to an ATK test.

The CCSA had approved the Public Health Ministry’s proposal to cancel the requirement of a negative RT-PCR test result taken within 72 hours before departure for new arrivals and require visitors to take a RT-PCR test upon arrival from April 1.

“The department will have a meeting on Thursday to finalise the details of the proposal before presenting it to a CCSA meeting on Friday [April 22],” DDC director-general Dr Opas Kankawinpong said on Tuesday.

“Furthermore, the department will propose an updated colour-coding classification of provinces based on the current Covid-19 situation so that provincial public health offices can implement disease control measures accordingly.”

Opas said the number of new domestic infections is much higher than imported cases, therefore easing the Test & Go scheme should not significantly affect the total daily infections in Thailand.

“As for the expected spike in cases after the Songkran holidays, the department estimates we will see a change in the next one or two weeks,” Opas said.

“The DDC will monitor the situation closely and also evaluate it each week regarding the impact of the outbreak on the country’s public health system. If new infections are still within a manageable level, we will gradually ease up disease control measures,” he added.